Spidey Boy and the Jolly Green Giant
by AvaWA
Summary: While on a mission in Turkey, Bruce finds an unexpected addition to his world- a young orphan named Peter- and takes on parenthood. Rated M now, for unhappy-times and adult topics later! Parent!Avenger, possible pairings: The Cold War, Pepperony, Clint/OC, Thorane, PHill, Daddy!Bruce
1. Fighting Crime

**I own a lot of things. I own this laptop. I own a small library (bookshelf-sized). I even own a very nice bike, because no job= no car. I do not, however, own the Avengers or Spiderman. I wish I did... but I don't. Don't pity me, though. I have a very nice bike! And, I own this story, so... FOR THE WIN!**

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"Oscar Mike. Approaching AO. What is your S/A? Over," the voice over the mic stated.

Bruce sighed as he walked down the street, tempted to rip the comm out of his ear. The radio emitted static for a second before, "Tony, get the hell off this radio, and get back on mission," Natasha's voice stated in that oh-so-serious tone, deadly calm.

"Hey, that's not fair," Tony whined, "why do **_I_** have to? Bruce gets to make cool reports over this thing, and he isn't even saying anything of importance! He just keeps repeating, 'Oh, I'm super friendly with the locals' and 'I remember this building, because it's where I used to hide from the police when they were after me!' I have way cooler things to say," they could practically hear the pout on the other end.

"…Over-"

"Clint! Don't encourage him," Natasha yelled over the sound of his childish giggling.

They were all cut short when another party joined the conversation, "Team, we're not here to make casual conversation. Stop goofing around and get back on mission," Steve's commanding voice shut them up.

Silence reigned for a few moments before the Cap's voice came back on, "Besides, Bruce's stories are much more interesting. Over."

Clint's cackling and Tony's swearing made Bruce have to chuckle. His team was quite the group.

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**This story is going to be really short, but don't worry! I think it does well in establishing the characters and relationships.**

**If you have any comments or questions, or maybe if you think, by the end of it, that you'd like the story to continue, you can message me or review with some ideas. ALL IS APPRECIATED!**


	2. Finding Spiders

**I'm sorry if you don't like my choice in location. I was trying to keep it in a snowy European slums, and Turkey fit the bill, so...**

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After a few hours of searching the dark and twisting maze that was the Turkish slums, Bruce found himself at a rather run-down but surprisingly clean coffee house, hidden among the tiered homes and back alleyways. Sitting down to a small, three-legged table, Bruce ordered some black coffee.

He grimaced over the bitter taste, but sat quietly. It didn't take long before he found what he was waiting for.

"Got 'em," he said casually into his mic.

The others had been quiet for a time while they went about their duties in the search, although Bruce was sure that he could here Tony playing Sonic Dash in the background earlier.

"Report," Captain America sounded sleepy, making Bruce smirk.

Unfortunately for Bruce, that caught their target's attention as they made a sweep of the surrounding area. Trying to look casual, they backed away towards a blackened doorway.

Bruce tried to be as discreet as possible as he paused to tie his shoe and reported into the com unit, "He suspects me. Hone in on my location and focus on the man in a bright red tarbush with a blue spotted scarf around it," Looking up, he saw that the man was already running through the crowd and into the dark alleys, "He's headed your way Steve. Incoming in 5, 4, 3, 2…"

The sound of a scuffle and gargled grunts came over the comm, before Cap answered, "He's on the move. This one's slippery, and he's carrying hidden weapons in his sweater."

"Capsicle just got taken down by a man _in a sweater_?" Tony asked incredulously before snickering.

"Steve, are you hurt? I'm heading your way," Bruce got up to go before he was answered.

"Don't bother, Doc. He knicked me a bit, but it's not serious. Right now, it's too important to catch him," The sound of Steve running told Bruce that he was already on his way to doing that.

"Alright," Bruce conceded, "but come see me as soon as we're finished so I can patch you up. I would argue the point, but I don't think I can catch up with you."

Steve laughed, and Bruce sighed, "If I'm no longer needed, I think I'm going to sign out. You can come pick me up when you're all finished."

"Right," Natasha acknowledged before continuing to report stats to the others.

Bruce smiled quietly to himself as he took the comm out of his ear.

About a minute passed before Bruce was interrupted from his coffee. Across the street, a commotion was occurring between a little boy and an old woman. The argument didn't last long, and from what Bruce could surmise from the gesturing, as they were speaking a language he only vaguely knew, the boy was telling the old woman about something, but she was ignoring him.

As Bruce watched him run off, he winced at the old lady's crackling Yiddish. Something about the boy caught Bruce's eye, but he was around the corner of a dark alley before the scientist could form the notion in his head properly. Bruce didn't necessarily brush it off- being a scientist, detail is meaningful, even if it was only a little boy.

An hour passed in total peace for Bruce, who was usually surrounded by frustratingly silly arguments between Clint and Steve over sports teams' stats, dangerously close-calls with throwing knives from the hands of a trained killer, and consistent jabbing of pokey objects and sass from the resident billionaire, playboy philanthropist.

Yes, life in Avengers tower never got old.

Bruce had long ago paid his bill, and now stood as the little coffee house started to close up for the night. Looking for a way to make the peaceful- albeit, cold- night last, Bruce walked down the lane a bit, turning into a deserted alleyway in the direction of the chosen assembly point (ha, irony.).

Except, the alleyway wasn't deserted. Standing in front of a crouching bundle stood a gang- and gang would be the best word in this case- of drunken men, obvious by their swaying posture and empty bottles in hand.

The bundle turned out to be that woman from earlier, who, although older, was still beautiful enough to attract attention. Bruce was about to step out of the shadows in defense of the woman when something stopped him.

Above the group of men, on the roof of the building behind them stood a tiny figure. The small form shifted until it was crawling- yes, crawling- down the wall, silent but quick, completely unnoticed by the drunkards.

Just as the apparent leader of the group reached out his sweaty paw-like hand to grab the woman, a sort of white filament shot out from the shadowy being, sticking to the man's hand and effectively pulling him back into the shadows where grunts were heard before it quieted.

Everyone in the alley had grown quiet, too surprised by the suddenness of the lead drunkard's disappearance.

A quiet child's giggle could be heard somewhere above them all. Bruce found it odd, watching the men, when their faces became drawn and pale, and some even backed away towards the alley's entrance.

"Yarış yarış yarış, hem istediğiniz gibi hızlı, ama ben seni yine yakalarım. Şimdi yapabileceğimiz bir şey yok. Hepiniz mahkum ediyoruz. (Race race race, as fast as you like, but I'll catch you anyway. There's nothing you can do now. You're all doomed.)," Paired with the ghostly, childish giggles echoing off the walls, even Bruce felt shivers down his spine.

The men looked about ready to faint, but they all stumbled towards the alley's entrance, passing Bruce by as he stood in the shadows. The scientist's sharp nose smelled the distinct acrid scent of urine. He would've laughed if he hadn't been so creeped out himself.

Checking that they were all gone, Bruce approached the old woman, asking in Turkish, "Bayan , iyi misin ? Ben doktorum. Yaralandın mı? (Ma'am, are you okay? I'm a doctor. Have you been injured?)"

The woman shook her head, gathering her groceries with shaking hands. Bruce tried to help her, but she shooed him away, pulling out a ripe, crispy apple.

Bruce's brow furrowed as he watched her throw the apple into the shadows. Running out the retrieve the fruit as it rolled was that little boy from before. Bruce gaped in surprise, as he saw what had caught his eye earlier. The boy didn't look anything like the average Turkish child. For one thing, he was half-starved and barely clothed in what appeared to have once been nice summer play clothes, obviously not suited for the snowy, winter surroundings. For another thing, and this is not to say that Bruce was ethnically narrow-minded, but the boy was obviously not Turkish. He looked to have traits of Scottish in his face, with his wavy auburn locks, his bright green eyes, and, although rather pink-cheeked, very light skin.

This boy did not belong here.

"Merhaba, çocuğum. İngilizce konuşabiliyor musunuz? (Hello, my child. Do you speak English)?" Bruce sat up on his heels and the boy shifted back into the shadows. Bruce frowned, but sat down, ignoring the old lady as she scurried away into the night. If he had been thinking more clearly, he would have offered to walk her back to her home.

"Adın ne? (What's your name?)," the boy looked down the lane, but stepped forward.

"Peter."

Bruce smiled, "Well Peter, how about we go get some hot chocolate. I think I saw a stand back there a ways. How does that sound?" Peter's eyes brightened at the mention of such an unthinkable treat, and he immediately took Bruce's proffered hand with childlike trust.

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**This chapter was a little longer, right? Right, well, please comment and tell me if you like it!**


	3. Feeding Heroes

**So, this is, like, half-drabble/ half-actual plotline, but it gets the job done.**

**Just playing around with character ideas at the moment, but I think I'm gonna send Peter to... PRESCHOOL! That'lll be a few chapters ahead though. Tell me what you think! I'm looking at the views and gosh... a ton of you guys are night-owls, just like me!**

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Steve sighed, exhausted, bleeding lightly from the lucky nick that their target got in. He growled softly as Natasha pressed a little too hard on the cut seeping from his arm. The man had been _very_ lucky.

"Sorry," she said in that voice only meant for Steve. He smiled assuredly for her to continue.

Tony and the others stood around the computers, looking for their last member. After apprehending the culprit, they went to the little café Bruce had been sitting at. Finding it closed, they headed back to the Quinjet. Leave it to Bruce to become their next mission.

"Got 'im," Clint called from the computer console, "He's just down this street. He's… buying a drink for a little boy? Yo, Tony! Look at this, he's such a teddy bear. When we drop into these backwaters on missions, these kids swarm to us like vultures, looking for spare change, freebies and crap like that. This kid got Bruce to buy him some cocoa! Ha, softie."

Tony grimaced, "Let's get our Jolly Green Giant before he takes the kid home with him.

Clint and Tony walked down the lane, looking to retrieve their favorite Green Science Bro. They found him sitting on a door step with the child.

"Oh, look, Peter. Here are my friends I was telling you about," they heard Bruce tell the boy.

"Brucie!" Tony called, "Time to go. Leave your lost puppy for the shelter. The Shawarma's gettin' cold."

Bruce winced, shifting a little closer to the boy, "We're not leaving him here, Tony. He's an American."

Tony and Clint frowned. _Of course_ he was.

Bruce stood, handing his warm cup to the child, and walking over to the two, "We're not leaving him here, because I know his parents- well, knew his parents, "Bruce frowned, "last I heard, Dr. Richard and Mary Parker were on a plane heading to Switzerland with some stolen research. They must've stopped here with Peter, but I have no idea why. Why stop in Turkey if you're headed for Switzerland? Also, why bring Peter along? They must not have expected to come back to the States."

The three looked over at Peter, who still sat, sipping his cocoa with a faraway look in his eyes.

Tony sighed, "So, I'm guessing he probably has family waiting for him. Looks like we'll be having an extra passenger on the Quinjet Express."

Clint smirked, "What, you afraid that your precious little jet is going to turn into an aerial people-mover?" he turned, looking back over at the boy, "You've got to respect the kid, though. It takes a lot to survive on your own on the streets, especially when you've just been orphaned."

Bruce studied the boy a moment more. He walked back to Peter, who, having been warmed up by the hot chocolate, had fallen asleep against the door's frame. Picking up the boy, he left the hot drinks behind, and carried the child towards his companions.

"Let's go," he said softly.

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**Hey, who's from Ireland? I've been thinking about going on a trip to Germany and Ireland, and a few other countries in Western Europe after I graduate, and I just want to know, weather-wise, when I'd probably want to be heading there. Summer's probably good, but I don't want to go to all those touristy places, and stand around with sunburnt retirees with Hawaiian shirts that hurt your eyes. I want to explore, talk to people, get to see the beautiful place that is Ireland! I'm really excited!**

**Sooo, what'd you guys think?!**

**I'm not totally pleased with this chapter, but I'm the next one, which is most likely long and full of feels! will be better.**

**Tell me what you think!**


	4. Feed Back

**I'm sorry to do this to you guys- getting you all excited about an update and then NOTHING!**

**Be angry, that's a natural reaction.**

**However, I just wanted you to know...**

**UPDATE WILL COMMENCE TOMORROW EVENING! **

**I have school in the morning, so...**

**Don't hate me.**

**I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!**

**I never expected such a great response and I'm so happy to see that everyone likes it.**

**Don't be afraid to PM or review with suggestions or ideas or questions or requests.**

**Ha! I made a rhyme.**


	5. Flabbergasting Fury

**GOOD NEWS, GOOD NEWS, AND MORE GOOD NEWS! This chapter is only a third of what it was supposed to be so don't worry! The second half is finished, and the third half is on the draft board at this very moment. I'll be posting them as separate chapters, but they go together, and should update right after another!**

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When Nick Fury walked into the S.H.I.E.L.D. conference room to debrief the Avengers, he had not had enough coffee that morning, because before his eyes was a hallucination. There should have been a roomful of adult babies: arguing, pushing and pulling on toys or each other, poking one another. He had even come in once to find Clint choking Tony to death while the rest silently cheered him on from around a game board. Tony was extremely proficient at cheating in Monopoly, but Clint wasn't called Hawkeye for nothing.

What Nick Fury saw before him was very… civilized. Like, these men and woman were actually adult human beings, discussing the mission, talking, laughing quietly over small things. And smack dab in the middle of the room was a little boy, asleep, on the table, wearing a zebra onesie.

Loki, who had noted the Director's silent entrance from his corner of the room, silently walked over to him.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're gob smacked. The Avengers all in the same room, and not fighting and acting otherwise like the dysfunctional little family you've built for yourself?" the Dark Prince of Asgard chuckled lightly, "And this," he gestured vaguely, "all because of that little bundle hither."

Fury followed the indicated direction towards the small boy curled up on the table.

He frowned sternly, "We aren't ones for taking home souvenirs, team."

His voice quieted the other adults in the room, and all eyes shifted to the table where Peter stirred ever so slightly.

"Could you keep it down, Director," Tony answered snarkily, "Peter's trying to nap."

"And what, pray tell, is 'Peter' doing on a table, in the Avengers conference room, on my S.H. .D. Helicarrier, dammit?!"

Suddenly, before he even had time to react, Fury found himself silenced by something extremely unexpected. Pulling at it, his hand tore away thin, sticky fibers that- they were spider webs. Nick Fury had just been silenced by spider webs.

Looking over, Fury found half the team under the table, all except for Clint, Natasha and Bruce, the latter having picked up the grumpy child who had apparently woken; Clint, because he wasn't even in the room, and Natasha, because it took a lot more than a little kid with spiderweb to scare her.

Fury stood a moment, taking in the situation before coming to the conclusion that the boy had shot the webs at him. How, though, was the question that must follow.

Bruce put his head closer to the boys and then looked at Fury, "He says," Bruce fidgeted uncomfortably, "Sorry, he's extremely grumpy when woken up. He's said that you should be glad it wasn't the stronger stuff. I can't imagine what he means, but I'll find out."

"So," Director Fury picked at the fibers on his face as the team assembled in their designated seats, "We've found a little more than a souvenir, I see, "Looking around again, he asked," Where's Barton?"

"He's filing the report, Sir," Natasha informed him as they watched Bruce pick up the boy.

They made their exit, Bruce speaking to Natasha for a moment before leaving.

All was silent until Tony giggled- yes, giggled, "You- you should see, see your face r-right now!"

Nick calmly gave Tony the Bird before pulling the last few webs from his cheek, "I imagine that ducking-under-the-table move was from experience?"

Tony's laugh turned into a grimace, "Yeah, yes it was."

Fury smirked, "Right, well, if you're done with your giggling," Tony looked affronted, "can someone explain why we have a web-slinging little boy on board and where he came from?"

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**Auh, character building, how we love you.**

**I hope you all appreciate what I had to go through to figure out how Fury reacts when surprised. Of course, I imagine that it's very much like every other expression he has- blank.**

**However, I needed some more... expression, and SASS! Fury sass brings all deh fanboys an' fangirls to duh yaurd. All dem fangirls. And fanboys. WE APPRECIATE YOU, BRONIES, AVENTURIANS (Avengers), LOKI'S ARMADA, AND OTHER MALE FANBASES THAT I DON'T HAVE NAMES FOR!**

**If you have a name for your gender's/non-gender's fandom(s), please list them in a review! All fandoms (and reviewers named, unless asked not too) SHALL recieve a shoutout!**


	6. Fear Me

**A few facts about Peter's character!**

**1) Peter is about 4-5 years old in my mind. I don't know if I said that earlier or not, but that's where I've put him for the story's sake. I don't even know if that works with the story's plotline, but I DON'T CARE.**

**2) Peter's webs are natural. I read that in the "Disassembled" storyline (WIKI!), Peter's abilities morphed into natural web-shooters. SO, I decided I liked that much better.**

**Peter is too young in my story to be at a genius level yet. In fact, he's a little held back from his full genius-boy potential, having lived on the streets of the Turkish slums.**

**However, I believe, with a little time and free reign of the Stark lab facilities, living with two geniuses will help Peter to his full potential.**

* * *

Peter awoke to the sound of flowing water. Looking around, he found that his surroundings had drastically changed from where he was previously.

He was lying on a Japanese futon, with a downy comforter, all olive green. The floor was like a platform and on all sides was a connected stream of sorts with small koi fish swimming around. One wall had an opened like a rice paper door panel to show a small hall the same length of the room with three doors- one at each end and one on the adjacent wall. In the mini "river" was a flat stepping stone leading into the hallway.

Peter took this all in- the quiet, peaceful atmosphere and calming vibe from the room was… surreal.

"I must be dead," Peter said to himself.

"Not quite, Buddy," Bruce's voice startled him so much that he almost shot his protector in the face as the man walked in. Bruce put up his hands soothingly, "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. You fell asleep on the ride back here, so I thought it best if you rest for a bit. This is my room, actually."

Peter looked around the room with new interest, noting certain panels on the wall which seemed likely to open up.

Bruce had kept talking, "Tony kind of gave it to me as a joke. He said something like, 'with all the stress you must have to deal with, hanging out with the losers, you need friends like me to help you.'"

Peter looked over to see Bruce smiling, off swimming in deep memories.

"Why do you smile like that?" Peter's question caught Bruce off-guard as he came back to reality.

"What?"

"When you smile," Peter pointed to his mouth as if that explained it, "You always look sad, like you're thinking about a really yummy candy that you dropped, "Peter frowned, much as if he too was thinking of such things, "Why do you smile like that?"

Bruce paused, his expression unreadable as his glasses glinted with the lamp light. The place really was overdone.

Moving towards Peter, Bruce sat down wearily on the boy's Shiki futon- his futon- and sighed. Taking off his glasses, he rubbed the bridge of his nose before setting his glasses back in place, and all the while, Peter sat patiently.

"Well, Peter, Life is a cruel mistress. It hasn't been very kind to you, has it?" Bruce looked towards the boy for confirmation.

With a seriousness that one shouldn't find on a little boy of Peter's age, he nodded, watching a fly in the corner of the room, but most likely not seeing it.

"Well, it hasn't been kind to me either, nor most of the Avengers. I won't go into detail, because I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate me talking about their personal business, but Tony? You know Tony, right?" Peter nodded, "He was captured and hurt by very bad, bad people. Lots of those bad people still threaten his loved ones. Did you know that?" Peter shook his head solemnly.

Bruce was quiet a moment more, "…and myself? Uh, I made a mistake. I thought I could make something that was better left alone. This something would've helped lots of people, but my bosses weren't good people-"

"-what's a 'Boss'?" Peter asked.

Bruce smiled, "A boss is a 'patron' (employer). They give you money to do a job. My job was to see if I could recreate someone else's work-"

"-Isn't that cheating?" Peter sounded aghast.

"No, it's more like trying to play a song. Someone else wrote it, but that doesn't mean you can't try to play it," Peter nodded like he had just been told some great piece of knowledge, "I tried to make it for them, but they weren't very patient, and-"

"What's 'patient'?"

"It's when you **wait** and **pay attention** for something to happen or be explained," Bruce emphasized, trying to get the little boy to stay quiet a moment.

Peter bit his lip and looked sheepish for a moment. Bruce just smiled.

"Like I was saying, they weren't very patient, and so I did something I shouldn't have. I was making a sort of special formula-"

"Like a wizard? Like when, in Harry Potter, they made potions and stuff?" Peter asked excitedly.

Bruce sighed at the innocent child, "Yes, very much like that. They wanted me to make them a potion, so I did, but they wanted to know that it worked. I took the potion myself, and…" Bruce's eyes flickered green and he tried his best to breathe steadily.

Bruce hadn't realized he had closed his eyes until he felt a small tugging on his sleeve and opened them to find Peter sitting right beside him, looking up at Bruce with curiosity. Curiosity that should have been fear.

Bruce smiled sadly, "The potion hurt me. When I get angry or hurt, I turn into someone else. It protects me from ever getting hurt, but that someone else is not nice at all. Peter, if you ever meet him, run," Peter's face scrunched up in confusion, "Run, and don't look back. Hide in a safe place or find one of the others. Just don't let him catch you. Crawl away, run- you said that you were practicing swinging on your strong webs?" Peter nodded, "Swing away if you can. Just don't let him catch you. He's dangerous and scary and he's not me. He doesn't love you, or even like you. He is only nice at certain times, but I can't control him. Do you understand, Peter? I can't protect you from him."

Peter nodded, his eyes wide. Bruce frowned. Yes, of course the boy would be afraid. He should be after all. No one should stay very long within Bruce's social circles, because they could always get hurt. Peter should fear him, and leave. Find a safe place with a good family and a dog, and-

Bruce's train of thought stopped short as the wind was knocked out of him. Looking down in surprise, he found Peter to be hugging him as tight as his short little arms could.

Bruce thought he heard the small boy say something, "What was that?"

Peter's teary-eyed face peaked up at him, "You said you loved me- kinda. Is that true? Would you keep me?"

Bruce stared at the little boy in shock for a moment before smiling a real smile- the first in a long while, "Of course, Peter. I would love to keep you."

Peter's teary-eyed, snot-coated face hid back into Bruce's chest where he fell asleep some time later.

Bruce just smiled as he watched the boy breathe quietly. He couldn't see his reflection so there was no way to know if it was a sad smile or not, but Bruce didn't care. For the moment, he'd just be happy that he would get to keep Peter in his life. As his son.

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**Sorry that this was so sappy and quick! I was trying to churn out some plot while I still have free afternoons and inspiration in my head.**

**Hope you liked! **

**Please review!**


	7. Facing Futures

**This was just a quickie to get something out there before I start in on the main chunk. I'm just starting my college classes, but I'll try to keep up as much as I can! I love the response I've gotten on this, and I can't wait to hear more from you guys! Thank you for being so awesome, you're the best readers an author could ask for.**

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"So, during the mission, Dr. Banner spotted the target, but did not pursue, leaving Capt. America to stop and apprehend them," Fury looked at the gathered team members- save Bruce- as they debriefed in the conference room, "While waiting to be located for transport, Dr. Banner witnessed a small scuffle between two civilians- one being the boy- and decided to follow-"

-No, not quite, sir," Agent Barton interrupted Fury, "He wasn't actually following them. He coincidentally found the second civilian being ambushed by some drunk locals. From the shadows, he was able to witness the attempted… crime being impeded by the boy."

Fury nodded, staring off as he thought this information over, "and after this, you weren't able to make contact with him for a while. Why?"

Natasha stepped away from where she had been leaning against the back wall, "Banner had requested that we come to get him once the mission was finished, but as his GPS signal was turned off when he took his communique off, we had to trace him from his last known position. We then-"

"-Basically, the bastard ran out on us, picked up a kid, and brought him home, like taking in a stray," Tony grimaced at the thought while Natasha glared at him, "and without even consulting us! He could have at least bothered to pick up the thing-"

"-kid," Steve sighed.

"…_kid_, at a proper humane society. What's- what's it called, a, a, a-"

"An orphanage-"

"-Yes! An orphanage, if Bruce wanted a _kid _so badly-"

"-Tony-"

"-he could've gone to an orphanage. At least then we'd know if the kid has its shots-"

"-Stark, could you be quiet for-"

"-I'm just saying, we don't know what the kid could've picked up. Children are tiny, little snot-nosed, whiny humans," Tony grinned, "I- I bet the boy's sitting up in that room, whining about getting some candy or toys or something. Gosh, kids are so stupid. You know, I kiss babies, I ain't having any though," Tony finished with a smirk.

The room was quiet.

"…Thanks, Tony. I'll keep your opinions in mind next time I decide to adopt," Tony cringed as Bruce's voice echoed off the thick, steel walls, dripping in venom and sarcasm.

Before the poor billionaire could dig himself into a deeper hole, and possibly cause a Hulk-out... again, Fury cleared his throat, "Dr. Banner," he greeted the scientist, "How's the boy?"

"Sleeping. He's had a long day, you know? It's a big deal getting taken away from the hell-hole he was living in. Since his parents disappeared, he was turned out of the hotel they were staying at, nearly caught by child molesters- multiple time, he didn't speak the language, so he had to learn it over the 2 years he's been there all by himself, living off of scraps and rotting food," Bruce looked pointedly at Tony who was, himself, very interested with the contents of his drink, "To answer your statements, Tony, Peter went to the police to help him get home, but they wouldn't listen to his story. Except for his obvious ethnicity, he looked like every other street rat out there," Bruce looked back at Fury, "If he doesn't have any other family to speak of, I'd like to adopt him. Can that be done, Director Fury?"

Fury stared at Bruce contemplatively before answering, "The boy had two living relatives of late, an Aunt and Uncle. However, during the Chitauri invasion, the boy's Aunt was killed by falling debris, and a few months before, his uncle was shot down during a liquor store robbery. The couple's property was sold off by the insurance company, but according to the family's bank, there are still trust funds and accounts that have yet to be emptied. Because of the discovery of the boy's whereabouts, the money will all be put into an account for him to do as he pleases when he is of age. Are we clear, Dr. Banner?"

The group sat in silence, waiting for Bruce's answer. Their favorite Gentle Giant smirked as he adjusted his glasses, "Crystal clear, Director" he looked up, "and thank you."


	8. Feed Back 2

**Hey, everyone!**

**Hope you all liked the newest chapter update. I only uploaded chapter 7, but the next one is on the draft board at this very moment!**

**#(&)#**

**INFO. ON TONY'S ATTITUDE! **

** Ok, so Tony's kind of being a jerk about this whole adoption business. I know, because I wrote it that way. To explain, Tony has never had a real family, or anyone he can really be close to. His mother and father, supposedly, did not do the best job with Tony before dying in a car accident. At least, that's what I've been told. The closest thing he had to family after that was Rhodey, Pepper, and sadly, Obadiah Stane, who ended up being a really bad guy.**

**His two best friends, Rhodey and Pepper- the latter being his girlfriend- are important people in his life, but his family? That's got to be the Avengers, a group of heroes who battle beside him, watch his back, and still care about him at the end of the day, even after seeing him hit all his highs and lows.**

**BASICALLY,**

**To speak plainly; the Avengers are Tony's family, and to have that family dynamic messed with by a new member? Tony will never admit it, but he is threatened by this little boy, this Peter. What he doesn't realize is how much the boy will fit perfectly into his and his teammate's hearts.**

**#(&)# **

**FUTURE PETER/AVENGERS'S FLUFF!**

**I have decided to start a separate story of one shots as an epilogue to this story. If you have any ideas for what should happen in those one shots, I'd love to hear them!**

**Please PM me, or review this story with ideas if you have any. Thanks!**


	9. Friends and AC Fans

**Thank yous go out to;**

**Silvermane1**

**foxchick1**

**fariedragon**

**iwillneverbefound**

**Orange3WhiteSkew**

**lovestarr**

**bookwormrdd**

**xXxOtAkU-444xXx [dude, what?]**

**and,**

**panda**

**for all your lovely reviews! I appreciate you all! **

**Sorry about Tony, I understand that he's being a jerk, and I hope I answered your questions about Peter's Aunt and Uncle. I wasn't sure what to do about them, but I think I came up with a good loophole! Also, MORE PETER!SON/BRUCE!FATHER TIME IN THE FUTURE!**

******PREVIOUS CHAPTER CHANGE:: If you were confused as to why Clint didn't seem to recognize Peter, I went back to the chapter, _Flabbergasting Fury_, and added a few details so that would make more sense. He wasn't actually in the room when Fury found the team gathered around the grumpy, sleepy boy, but off filing the report. Nothing of consequence, really, but if you wanna look, it's chapter 5.**

* * *

Clint sighed in exasperation as he climbed in the air vents. Tony could be such an ass.

The meeting had just ended, and he was looking for a bit of quiet time to think.

That's when he happened upon a spider web. Or, at least, it sure seemed like a spider web: the only difference was, it wasn't part of a web, and no matter what he did, the soft, gummy thread wouldn't break. Following the thread, Barton found a large chamber with an AC fan below, a grate above it as a floor to keep anything (or anyone) from getting chopped into bits. Following his thread, Clint looked towards the middle where the web connected with others, and there, in the center of a ginormous web, lay a kid. The boy was looking directly at him, expectantly.

"Umh," Clint paused, collecting his thoughts, "Who are you?"

The boy's face scrunched up with incredulity, "Who are you? And why were you trying to break my web?" he seemed very put out by this.

Clint blinked; the boy… knew?

"How did you- what? Wait, I asked you first," Clint argued.

The boy fell silent, supposedly thinking this statement through, "Alright, fair enough. I'm Peter."

Clint now understood, but was extremely surprised, "You're the boy Banner brought back?" He looked down at the webbing.

"You know my dad?" Peter asked, surprised.

Clint's eyebrows raised, _Dad?_ "Yeah, we… work together. I'm Clint, Clint Barton, but they call me Hawkeye."

Now it was Peter's turn to raise his eyebrows. He began talking so fast, his words slurred together, "You're Hawkeye?! You'resocool! Dad was telling me stories, and you take down lotsa bad guys with you arrows, and, and my dad? He turns into a big green guy! And then, you both fight the bad guys withCaptainAmericaandSteelMan! That's so cool," Peter whispered the last part as he hopped down from the web to stand beside the crouched man.

Clint had to grin at the blunder of Tony's hero name. He'd have to use that one.

"Yeah, yeah, it is. Now, I have a question for you," Peter nodded enthusiastically, "What," Clint plucked the line of thread and Peter twitched slightly, like he had heard something, "is this?"

Peter immediately began to roll back his sleeves. Nothing immediately stood out to Clint, but upon closer inspection, he noticed how the skin was a bit weird. Clint frowned as, when Peter flexed his wrist ever so slightly in a certain way, the skin raised to form a bump. It looked kind of like a zit, with a white tip, and sat perfectly on what he had previously thought to be a vein, but appeared to be hidden tracks of webbing below the skin. It was almost to the point of being grotesque in its abnormality, but it blended so well with his skin, it didn't actually look out of place.

"Before I had my daddy," Clint assumed Peter was referring to Bruce, "I had my birth parents. I don't really know them, but I'm still sad that they're gone. Anyway, they would do stuff to me. I do remember that. Little games we'd play. And needles, lots of needles. I don't really remember it, but Dad said, 'nothing they could'a done would'f caused this, only started it'," Peter's face scrunched up in confusion as he tried to decipher what that meant.

Agent Barton thought this over, and would have kept thinking about it, if not for the sudden aching in his knees. The chamber's ceiling was just low enough for Clint to have to crouch, but just high enough for Peter to stand. Grunting, Clint shifted.

"Right, well, kid, I think we should go back now. Your dad's probably worried for you. Plus, I've got some questions for him," Clint mumbled.

Peter nodded solemnly, then suddenly, his face flashed with panic, "You won't tell him about this, will you?" Peter gestured toward the human-sized web sitting above the AC fan, "It's like a secret hideout! I don't want to get in trouble…"

Barton chuckled at the kid's desperation, remembering a time as a boy where he would've done anything for a secret hideout, "Course not, Spidey. No Secret agent reveals his fellow agent's hideout!"

Peter perked up, "Secret agent?"

"Yeah, kid, you'd be a perfect secret agent, a spy," Clint smiled as the boys eyes lit up at the sound of playing at being a secret agent, "but maybe we should ask your dad first. It would be a good cover for whenever you want to go to your secret hideout if you said that you were busy being a secret agent. Then, you could go to your secret base without having to explain too much."

The two smiled conspiratorially at this logic, and started heading back.

It only took Clint a split-second to realize Peter was crawling along the ceiling, "What, did you get too much syrup on your fingers or something?"

Peter giggles could be heard from around the corner.

* * *

**Alright! What'd you think of Clint and Peter time? Who should Peter run into next? Comment or PM me (I hate having all those reviews to stories, because if you review a story you don't like later, it'll clutter up your review history. Any suggestions?!), and I'll get back real soon!**

**ALSO, any suggestions for the title? I'm sure you've noticed the theme I've been going for... Suggestions welcome!**


	10. Falling and Furious Fathers

**This is just another little insight to the Tony feels!**

**Shout-out to LiveFreeDieWell, thanks for letting me know! I switched that, so it should be at the beginning now. Please review more!**

**Also, I've had requests for who Peter will run into next. You asked for Steve and Tony, but I'm saving the Tony feels for later, so we'll go with Steve next chapter, k?**

**Right, please review!**

* * *

"I don't like it."

Bruce sighed, "We know, Tony, but the boy's going to come live with me. If you don't like it, I can just move into an actual house with him instead-"

"-No!" Tony's face scrunched up in worry. He wouldn't lose his Science Bro to anyone, especially a child. He wouldn't lose any of his team. They were...family, to him.

The two had just left the meeting room, and were headed to their shared lab- Tony had convince Bruce to stay, somehow.

Tony paused for a second, stopping in the hallway and cocking his head as if he'd heard something. Bruce stopped to, and was about to ask him what was up when-

*BANG*

Above their heads, the air vent fell to the floor, barely giving them time to clear out of the way.

"Damn it, Clint. You could've killed us-" Tony's angry grunt was cut short as the dust cleared revealing… Peter.

"Peter!" Bruce jumped up and knelt beside the boy faster than seemed, as the boy's eyes started to well up.

Looking up, Bruce spotted a head peaking out of the dark vent to see what damage had been done, "Clint! Get down here right now. I am trying very hard to reign things in right now, and you just pissed me off!" Bruce was shaking in rage, and Peter clung closer to him, his tears coursing down his face in silence.

Tony looked on in disgust. He wasn't disgusted over Peter's tears- he didn't even notice that. He was disgusted by the care and attention the little boy was receiving. Although it was childish, Tony was hurt that he hadn't been asked if he'd been hurt. No, everyone was worried about the stupid little boy, and how he was just adorable and oh-so brave for living on the streets on his own for a whole year. Well, Tony could see right through the little monster's antics, he knew that the boy was just an attention-grabber, a little pest who would cry and whine till someone gave him what he wanted. Tony had suffered so much as a child, and this little thing thought he could get whatever he wanted?! How- how perfectly horrid! As Bruce cooed over the injured boy, and screamed at the air vents, Tony stalked off.

Nobody noticed him leave except one little pair of teary eyes, who followed his footsteps, and started to cry even bigger, silent tears, because he arm hurt really bad, and he really wanted Uncle Tony- yes, he had to think of him that way, the man was so much like a brother to Bruce- to like him, but since he didn't, he felt depressed about that, and today had just been so emotional-!

Bruce was shaking Peter's shoulder, trying to get the boy to let him see the arm he was cradling. When the boy finally released his arm to be examined, a cold, fiery rage roared in Bruce's ears. It filled his lungs to the point where it stole the man's breath away. Peter's arm was most definitely broken.

"On second thought, Clint, if you come down here, we'd most likely have an incident. You'll explain this to me later once I've calmed down, correct? It wasn't a request, and Bruce just barely caught a glimpse of a sandy-colored tuff of hair nodding, before disappearing into the vents.

Bruce silently picked up his boy, and Peter sniffled quietly as he tiredly leaned his head against Bruce's shoulder. Bruce sighed, letting the child's presence calm his anger. Peter was like a soothing presence on their big green friend, and Bruce couldn't help but smile at the sudden giddiness of having such a gift in his life. With this boy- his boy- by his side, Bruce wouldn't have to fear his rage. After all the universe had thrown at him to finally give him something so precious- he was eternally grateful.

* * *

**How was Daddy!Bruce? Good? Bad? Too emotional? Tempermental? Unstable, maybe? Or even creepy? PLEASE TELL MEEEEEEEEEE... I just *sniff, sniff* love it when people comment SO much!**


	11. Feedback 3 SO SORRY

**Hey guys!**

**It's finally the weekend, so I can get back to writing and update!**

**Alright, sorry for doing another feedback. I'm sure you all must hate these.**

**HOWEVER,**

**I've had a few questions about OOC Tony, and the suddenness of Daddy!Bruce.**

**Shout-out to Halfagod for giving me some great feedback and raising some very good questions.**

_Good job so far, but I think some of the characters aware a little too dramatic. Bruce is displaying traits of a good father, but there wasn't enough character development for Bruce to have such strong feelings. Tony also being really immature. Assuming you are following the Movieverse, I think Tony should be more understanding towards an orphan. He should understand the feeling of wanting a more prominent father figure._  
_I feel like you described Clint very well. _  
_Keep writing!_  
_-Halfagod_

Thank you so much for your comment! I really appreciated the input and constructive criticism.

To address your misgivings, I realized rather quickly that **Bruce**'s fatherly love for Peter had developed too quickly and without enough context or time. I had hoped to compensate for this by beginning with the notion that he was looking out for his late colleagues' offspring. In chapter 6, I tried to explain Bruce's sudden affection by putting it down to Peter's acceptance of the 'Other Guy', and his lack of fear that he displayed from the very beginning. I'll be trying to expand on his character in later chapters.

**Tony** is much more complicated in that, he is the most understanding of Peter's situation, and that's why he nearly hates the boy. For Tony, I imagined him subconsciously accepting the Avengers as his adopted family. You're right, Tony should be more sympathetic to a fellow orphan, but on the other hand, we have this situation where a child's adoptive parents bring home their newly adopted child. The previous adopted child feels threatened by this new addition, and even if they can relate to this them, the first child will still dislike them. See what I mean? Tony is threatened by this new child- Peter- coming into the family and taking away affection. No matter how grown up Tony is, he will still always have a bit of that threatened, orphan child in him unless he can get past it.

I'm glad you liked**Clint**! I thought he was a bit OOC myself, but then again, all my characters are!

Keep on the lookout for new chapters! I'll be updating soon.

~Ava

**Hopefully that response answered some of your questions! Keep reviewing, and I may end up giving you a shout-out!**

**Love you all!**


	12. Physical Abuse

**WARNING: This chapter contains... uhhh, Idon'tknow, but it mentions a possible sexual relationship between Steve and Natasha, and previous child abuse in young Peter's life. ****_Both_**** of those issues are ****_completely separate_****, to be clear. Trigger warning, I guess.**

#(&)#

Steve sat at his kitchen table, sipping at a cold cup of coffee and reading the same newspaper article he had been going over for the last 15 minutes. To a stranger, the man's brow might have been a little grim as he focused on the reading material, but to Steve's friends, he was obviously extremely nervous. Natasha had said earlier that day that she had something special planned for them tonight, and her tone had him blushing like the virgin he was as she giggled- yes, spies can giggle- and practically slithered away, swaying her hips salaciously. Steve downed the rest of his cold coffee at just the thought of her and the implications of such a statement. Steve had fallen hard, but this fall might end up being too deadly for even the famed Captain America to survive. Just as Steve got up to put on another pot of coffee, the elevator doors to his floor opened, and Bruce came storming in with the little boy, who happened to be in tears.

Steve nearly dropped the mug before running over to the pair, "Bruce, what happened? How bad was he injured?" Steve looked the boy over, ignoring the irate man, "Why didn't you take him to the med-wing?"

Bruce, looking extremely distraught and breathing rather heavily from carrying such a small boy, shook his head, kissed the exhausted little boy's head, and dumped him into Steve's arms.

Confused, Steve looked up at his friend.

"I just- need to cool off. Watch him for me?" was all the good doctor got out before he was brushing past Natasha, who had just walked in, and taking the elevator down to who-knows-where.

Natasha and Steve watched before the woman turned around and approached Steve, "What was that all about?"

Steve suddenly remembered the little boy he was so suddenly in charge of, "I think the kid's injured. We need to reset the bone. Help me?"

With as little jostling as possible, Steve laid the boy down on the firm couch cushions and propped his body up so as to keep movement to a minimum. While Natasha searched for Steve's first aid kit, Steve quietly got the boy's attention.

"Hey," he said quietly, patting Peter's cheek, "Hey, son, you're going to be just fine. I'm going to push up your sleeve so we can get it out of the way, alright?"

The boy's eyes shot open, and pain flashed in his eyes as he gritted his teeth. Steve raised an internal eyebrow at that while he muttered a soft apology- where did a kid whose only 5 or 6, possibly younger, learn to tolerate pain like this?

Natasha finally yelled out, "Found it!"

Steve looked up at her approach, taking in for the first time her attire. It was absurd, seeing her in a beautiful, almost crystalline ball gown dress, with an off-the-shoulder neckline, a night-sky pattern spattered across the dark blue material. Against her blazing red hair coiled in a cute 20's-style curl, she looked spectacular.

"What's the occasion?" Steve breathed, afraid his voice would come out craggily and husky.

Natasha frowned, giving him a pointed look, and opening the med kit.

"Right, the injury isn't serious enough to need surgery. He's got a proximal humeral fracture. We just need to immobilize it immediately. Damn, when Bruce gets back, I'm going to have to give him an earful for leaving his son at a time like this. There's important information he needs to know about this injury," Steve frowned at the elevators, as if expecting the man himself to walk back in at that very moment.

Natasha chuffed quietly, as she cooed over Peter, "Where'd you learn all of this? Have you been reading a medical dictionary or something?" Natasha handed him a roll of medical tape as she placed a strange splint around the boy's arm. The child shifted uncomfortably, his lip warbling with emotion.

"We need to get him down to the med-ward. Think you can grab some sweets from the kitchen cabinet? I'm going to try and move him," Natasha nodded as she headed for the kitchen.

Steve looked Peter in the eye, "Hey, son. Now, I need you to tell me some things. Can you do that for me?"

Peter nodded.

"Alright, I need to know what you were doing when you were injured. Can you tell me that?"

The boy's lips trembled, but he took in a big breath before answering, "I was playing secret agents with Clint up in the vents, a-and I was trying to get away before he-" Peter hiccupped-"could catch me, and the door opened below me, and… I fell."

Steve nodded, "That must have hurt."

Peter shook his head, "Not that much. I'm just… really sorry!" the little boy burst into tears, trying his very hardest to muffle his sobs.

Steve pulled the boy instinctively closer before letting up when the boy squeaked in pain, "Hey, hey, it's alright. What do you have to be sorry for? Huh?"

Peter mumbled a moment before coughing, and answering, "I just… didn't mean to make him angry. I'm really sorry. I really am. I'm so sorry…" the last bit of his answer came out in a whisper.

"You're sorry because you made Bru- your dad angry?" Peter nodded, "Oh, Peter. Don't be sorry. Yes, you shouldn't do that, but it's your dad's job to be angry," Steve cocked his head, thinking about the irony of that statement, "He's only angry because he cares about you, and he doesn't ever want to see you hurt. When you fell from the ventilation shaft, he was probably terrified that you were seriously injured, which-" Steve nodded to Peter's arm, "you were."

Peter frowned, and sniffled, "But, why wouldn't he want to see me hurt?"

Steve froze for a second, thinking this statement through. Natasha had silently walked in with a large bag of mixed sweets. Having heard this last exchange, she approached cautiously, wanting to hear the answer.

"Peter, what would make you think that your dad would want to see you hurt? That's terrible. Bruce cares about you, and to care about someone is to want them to be healthy and happy," Steve looked at Peter, confused.

"Well, my papa hit me all the time. When his work was making him unhappy, he said he liked to work things out, and that I was always there to help him. He said that hitting me helped him not feel angry," Peter whispered quietly.

Natasha covered a gasp that nearly escaped, looking at Steve with wide eyes.

Peter had been a victim of child abuse. Bruce was going to lose it when he heard about this.

#(&)#

**Sorry for the late update! I had school, as I'm sure the rest of you must. JOY! EDUCATION! LEARNING IS HAPPENING! Intense chapter we've had here. I did ****not**** realize that we'd be going down this avenue, but... ok then. I'll try to update again soon, but... you guys know how it is. Love you all!**


	13. Big Secrets

**YAY! The plotline is heating up. I'm LOVING IT!**

**Two things, though:**

**1) The Peter!whump. Yes, that was a bit... abrupt, and no, it won't really come up in this chapter, although I hope I was able to clearly explain why. Let me know in the comments!**

**2) I have a one-shot series that I'm writing for this story! Yay! If you want to read some one-shots of AUs or Future-fics and the like of this story, check it out: ****_Jolly Green Giant and Son_****. So sorry for the not-very-creative title, but I was in a time crunch! IF you would like me to write a certain something, PLEASE let me kknow! I'm taking requests.**

**LOVE YOU ALL! Ciao~**

* * *

It was over an hour later when the trio got back to Steve's floor. They knew that Bruce would be back for Peter sooner or later, so they sat the little boy down in front of the TV and put in Meet the Robinsons. While the boy was occupied, Natasha and Steve went into the kitchen to cook the boy dinner, even though it was way past 9:00pm.

"The boy probably has a bedtime; we should set him up on the couch," Steve started to move back to the living room.

"Steve, wait; we need to feed him first. It's important for children to eat before bed, and then wait an hour before sleeping. The faster we make him food, the sooner he can go to bed," Natasha answered.

Steve quirked his head at her and chuckled softly, watching as she rifled through his fridge for something edible, "Where'd you learn that, in a parenting book?"

"No," she answered, "I read it on a parenting website, actually-" Natasha froze.

Steve face scrunched in confusion, "…what were you doing on a parenting site?" he asked, curious.

Natasha straightened, still looking away from him. Steve frowned, turning serious, "Nat? What were you doing on a parenting site? Are you… thinking about… that?"

Natasha shook her head and turned around, slowly walking to him. She held her hands up, gesturing for him to take them. Steve's eyes widened as she guided them down to lay them against the warmth of her stomach.

Steve sucked in a breath, "How- when- Nat, we never… Did you…?" his jaw tightened as he breathed harder.

"Steve, Steve, listen: it is yours, I swear. You… don't remember, but... Last year at Tony's New Year's party, remember? As a present, he had gone and made some alcohol that could bypass the super serum. Remember? Well, you were so drunk, and everyone else was passed out, so I went to carry you upstairs, and… you kissed me. We started dating not long after Tony's party, but… that night, we…" Natasha trailed off.

Steve was staring at her stomach with an unreadable expression, and for a moment, Natasha thought he might be angry that she'd kept it. They'd only been dating for two months, and it was so sudden-

All thoughts of Steve's reaction left her mind when she felt warm lips touch hers, and Steve holding her close. He held onto her like a lifeline and kissed more passionately than he ever had before.

As they broke apart, Natasha breathed out, "Steve-"

"You… are the most beautiful woman in the whole world, and I love you," Steve leaned his forehead against Natasha's, both of them breathing heavily.

"You aren't… angry…" Natasha finally caught her breath, "Why?"

Steve smiled, kissing her forehead before looking her in the eye, "I should've told you a long time ago, but," his smile turned sheepish, "I guess I was too scared."

Steve took a breath before plunging in, "Nat, I have loved you for so long. Since the day I've met you, I've secretly fancied you."

Natasha grinned at this, "You've fancied me?"

Steve made a sound of complacent agreement, "More than you'll ever know, "Steve's grin faltered, "That's ok, right? I mean, I don't expect you to return any-"

Natasha put a finger over Steve's lips, and smiled softly, "It may not have been as… instant as you, but my love for you has been growing for a long time, Steve."

The pair smiled, before Steve pulled away suddenly. At Natasha's confused look, he grinned, and got down on his knees, "Natasha Alianovna Romanova, I have loved you for so long, and, not only for the baby, but for us as well," Steve began to stutter, making Natasha smile. Steve may have been the confident Captain America, but when it came to women, she had to remember that he was still new to dating. He'd done pretty well so far in their relationship, but sometimes his ineptness shown through.

"Steve," he looked back up at Natasha to find her smiling and her eyes shining with mirth, "yes."

Steve broke out in a grin, before standing, picking Natasha up, and whirling her around his kitchen. The two laughed quietly, before Steve set her down. Looking around, Steve found what he was looking for. He walked over to a certain drawer and pulled out a large, chunky item. Looking closer, Natasha realized that it was a metal box, with a slide open top. Steve handed it to her, and smiled as she opened it. Inside was a beautiful obsidian ring with the thinnest strips of mother-of-pearl wrapped around it to form tree branches.

Natasha stood in silent shock, tears springing in her eyes. The pair kissed before hugging each other tightly. Steve wiped at Nat's eyes, lovingly, while they began discussing plans for how they were going to have the wedding and the baby, whether or not they would tell the others, how this would affect their jobs. It was silent for a little while as they thought these things over.

"Umh…" Steve and Natasha whirled around to find Peter standing in the entryway, "there's something…" Peter looked at his feet.

Steve went to kneel in front of Peter as Natasha walked over to the fridge once more, "What is it, buddy? You need something? Natasha's about to cook some dinner if you like," Steve gestured at Natasha who now stood humming by the stove as she put on a can of soup.

Peter nodded his head before tugging Steve back out to the living room. Steve gave Natasha one last grin before following the little boy.

When Natasha came back out of the kitchen with a tray of three bowls of chicken soup, she didn't think the night could get any better. That is until she found Peter showing Steve how a remote controller works.

"You press this button to turn the volume up and down, and these buttons to change the channels; you press this one to- no don't press it now, that's the menu button. It'll take you somewhere you don't want to go," The absurdity of a little 5 year-old explaining the ins-and-outs of technology to Steve was so ridiculous, Natasha burst out laughing.

The pair looked up and watched as Natasha set the train down on Steve's dining room table, before leaning against the chairs to support her giggles. Steve colored and turned back to the remote as Peter began to explain again.

"This is the power button- No! Why'd you press it? It turns off the TV," Peter's little exasperated voice was too much for Natasha as she ran back into the kitchen to pull herself together. She was having a hard time of controlling her emotions tonight. Natasha frowned, though, as she began thinking about what Peter had told them about his past. Sighing, she grabbed another bowl out of the cupboard, thinking that Bruce might join them at some point.

When she walked back into the room, she found Steve, apparently banished from assisting Peter in working the TV, and sitting at the table. Natasha grinned, chuckling lightly.

Steve was about to reprimand her when the elevator dinged and the doors opened to show a disheveled Dr. Banner.

"Finally," Steve said, getting up to greet their friend, "We were starting to get worried-"

"-Daddy!" Peter dropped the remote and ran over to side-hug Bruce as his other arm was in a sling.

Kneeling down, Bruce hugged Peter tightly, "Hey, bud, sorry I wasn't around tonight. I had to… well, anyway, did you have fun with Steve and Natasha? How's your arm?"

Peter nodded emphatically, "Yeah! Aunt Tasha's really pretty, and Uncle Steve is funny. And my arms good. It hurts though," Peter face flew through a flurry of different expressions as he described their few hours together.

Bruce laughed softly when Peter began criticizing Steve's ineptness in working the TV, "Peter, that's rude. Steve just isn't used to technology. That's all. And where'd you learn to work a tv anyway?"

Peter looked thoughtful for a moment before answering, "The café on my street needed someone to hold the antennas in the right place, so they had me sit up by it, and hold the antennas. They gave me some food if I did a good job, and Habчl showed me how to work the remote once."

Bruce grimaced at the thought of Peter having to work for food in those slums. The boy was only 5, but he had had to take care of himself all on his own, "Well, you did a good job. Now, why don't we go to bed? It's getting pretty late, don't you think?" Bruce watched as Peter's eyes drooped a little.

"Oh, Bruce, we were just about to sit down to a late dinner. Care to join us?" Steve called from where he and Natasha were setting out utensils.

Bruce sighed; he was exhausted from spending hours trying to keep himself from Hulking-out, and after he'd successfully calmed down, staying calm by working like a madman on something Fury had asked him to do. However, soup sounded really good since he'd forgone lunch, and Peter hadn't eaten either.

He looked down at Peter who smiled up at him, and sighed, pulling his son up to carry him to the dinner table.

"Thanks, I think I will."

* * *

**Hope you all like that! I didn't get into the abuse that I mentioned in the last chapter, because, as I'm sure you noticed, Steve and Natasha became preoccupied with... other matters. YAYY! THE AVENGERS FAMILY GROWS EVER LARGER!**

**Important Notice For Sassy Readers****: If there are any readers out there who are confused on where the story has been going for the last two chapters, that's called plot, sweeties. I figure after a little meet-and-greet among the team members, we need something to actually happen. I will say, though, if there are any story gaps, let me know. The last two chapters have kind of been off the top of my head, so there may be some confusions on what, where, when and how. Don't forget to review! Thanks!**


	14. Forgiveness

**This chapter is really short. I'm trying to get to more plot for you guys, but the stories sort of teetering off. SUGGESTIONS would be lovely!**

#(&)#

Bruce had just gone to use Steve's guest bathroom before planning to take a very sleepy Peter back to their own rooms. Over dinner, the adults had been discussing a room for Peter and what to include in it. Peter, being on the streets for a majority of his young life, had no input except to say that he liked how Bruce's room looked, so they made plans to design in like so.

As Peter sat on the couch, hugging a pillow, his senses started tingling. He'd heard his name.

"…and he's such a cute kid. Watching you get reprimanded by a four-year-old was…" Natasha's voice came into focus as she fell into a fit of giggles.

"mh… mhbut wouldn't it be better if it was your own four-year-old doing that?" Steve asked quietly.

Natasha gasped and Peter quirked his head, wondering what they could be doing. He had just gotten up to go see when his super-hearing exploded with a huge clank noise coming from the kitchen. Peter fell to the floor; his ears had been so attuned to listening to their whispers that the loud noise had been deafening, and Peter had to wait for his ears to stop ringing.

When they finally did, Peter realized that Clint was now in the kitchen.

'He must have come through the vents,' Peter thought.

"…He's here?! Shoot, I was trying to avoid him. He's probably calmed down by now, but I didn't want to risk it. Look, I wanted to talk to you guys about Tony," Peter perked up at this, "He's been acting really weird- rude, even- whenever I mention the kid. What's up with-"

"-Tony feels threatened," Natasha answered in her no-nonsense voice, "He doesn't like Peter. I could see it from the moment we brought him on board. I'm surprised you guys didn't note his complexion paling."

There was a pause in which Peter imagined the two giving her funny stares.

"Who would notice that besides you?" Clint asked before an answering whack and an 'ow!' suggested somebody was just hit upside the head.

"I agree with Nat, but why?" Steve's voice rang out.

Natasha answered, "Like I said, he feels threatened. Tony is, in more than one sense of the word, a child. SHIELD psychologists have analyzed Tony's personality and behavior and they concluded that he was emotionally neglected as a child-"

"-How can a kid who probably had everyone have been neglected?" Clint asked disbelievingly.

"Tony's parents were known for being socialites. They didn't spend enough time with their child, which, according to psychology 101, is a form of neglect. A child needs to have a connection with its parents, or else it will develop-"

"-Blah blah blah, ok, get to the point," Natasha huffed exasperatedly.

"Look, even with all the nannies and maids and servants a little boy could ask for, parents are more important for a child to function normally," Natasha concluded.

"… So what does this have to do with Peter?" Steve asked quietly.

"Everything. Tony has always wanted- no, needed, a proper family. In the Avengers, he's found one. Made his own family. Peter has come in, and he's messed with that family hierarchy. Instead of the attention going to Tony, we've now been focusing on Peter," Natasha finished.

At that point, Peter stopped listening. The little boy had an idea of what they were talking about- he was smarter than he looked- and Peter liked Tony.

Peter's tiny face set into a determined grimace. He would do what he could to fix this.

When Bruce finally got back, he found Peter fast asleep on the couch, and Clint in the kitchen.

"Hello, Clint," the trio froze at Bruce's voice.

Turning around, Clint grimaced and rubbed his neck, "Hey, Bruce."

After an awkward pause, Bruce held out his hand to shake. He wasn't really mad at Clint, just scared when he saw Peter crying. Clint smiled and shook before climbing back up on the counter and into the air vent.

"You guys know I do have a working front door, right?" Steve huffed.

"Yeah, but," Clint's voice answered as his feet disappeared, "Where's the fun in that?" they listened as the sound of his movements grew fainter.

"Hey," Natasha said, turning to Bruce, "you headed home now?"

Bruce smiled, looking back at the boy sleeping on his back, "Yeah, it looks like we've both had a long day."

Steve put the last of the dishes in the sink, "Well, you can always rent him out to us, whenever you like."

Bruce chuckled lightly as they all headed towards the elevator, "What, you have an extra baby cage* hanging out of your window or something?"

Steve looked shocked at hearing a reference from his past; Natasha and Bruce laughed quietly.

Bruce left after that, saying goodbye to the couple as he carried Peter to the elevator and back to the floor piggyback.

When Peter shifted as the reached Bruce's room, Bruce whispered, "Hey, buddy, you ready to go to bed?"

Peter made a contented sigh before Bruce set him down on the ground beside their bedrolls.

The little boy wavered slightly before Bruce guided him to his own bedroll and then said goodnight.

#(&)#

***A Baby cage was an invention in the 1920s and 30s that was basically a cage you would hang out your window and have the baby hang out in so the child could get "fresh air" and you would have more space in your tiny apartment. Too bad a number of these lead to ****children's****deaths...**

**Look for more updates soon!**

**AND check out my series of oneshots,****_ Jolly Green Giant and Son_****. **


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